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The Top 10 Worst NBA Contracts

We are smack dab in the middle of the NBA playoffs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about the upcoming NBA free agency period does it?

OF COURSE WE CAN!

With free agency coming up in a few months, I decided to take a look back at the 10 worst NBA contracts. Consider this list a warning to NBA GM’s everywhere as you will definitely see a pattern here.

Top 10 Worst NBA Contracts

Honorable Mentions:

Wesley Matthews (Dallas Mavericks)

Guaranteed Money: $53,600,000

Signed Through: 2018-19

Points Per Game: 13.5

Rebounds Per Game: 3.6

Assists Per Game: 2.9

Player Efficiency Rating: 11.9

Kent Bazemore (Atlanta Hawks)

Guaranteed Money: $50,730,338

Signed Through: 2018-19 with a player option for 2019-20

Points Per Game: 11.0

Rebounds Per Game: 3.2

Assists Per Game: 2.4

Player Efficiency Rating: 11.5

DeMarre Carroll (Toronto Raptors)

Guaranteed Money: $44,400,000

Signed Through: 2018-19

Points Per Game: 8.9

Rebounds Per Game: 3.8

Assists Per Game: 1.0

Player Efficiency Rating: 11.9

Brandon Knight (Phoenix Suns)

Guaranteed Money: $56,500,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 11.0

Rebounds Per Game: 2.2

Assists Per Game: 2.4

Player Efficiency Rating: 12.3

And now….the top 10!

10. Bismack Biyombo (Orlando Magic)

Guaranteed Money: $51,000,000

Signed Through: 2018-19 with a player option for 2019-20

Points Per Game: 6.0

Rebounds Per Game: 7.0

Assists Per Game: 0.9

Player Efficiency Rating: 12.2

The Orlando Magic have been a joke of a franchise since joining the NBA. If you take out a few years where they where good thanks to the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard (who both bolted town almost as quickly as they entered), this team has pretty much been the perfect example of how NOT to run an NBA team. Why exactly are the Magic a joke of a franchise? Because they go out and pony up over $50 million for 3 (maybe even 4) years of Bismack Biyombo. A guy who is extremely talented on one side of the ball and is a giant liability on the other side. Biyombo is a good player on the defensive side of the ball, but that’s it. There’s a reason he’s been on three teams in his six-year career. The guy is fool’s gold.

9. Ian Mahinmi (Washington Wizards)

Guaranteed Money: $64,000,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 5.6

Rebounds Per Game: 4.8

Assists Per Game: 0.6

Player Efficiency Rating: 14.1

Everything I just said about Bismack Biyombo can pretty much be repeated here. Ian Mahinmi is a decent player, but the Wizards are extremely over-paying for his services. Especially when you consider that he only played in 31 games this season. If you really want some perspective on how bad Mahinmi’s contract looks right now, you need to look no further than the Washington Wizards team payroll. You see that? Isn’t it awful that Mahinmi almost makes as much money as John Wall does? Ya, that’s gross.

8. Allen Crabbe (Portland Trail Blazers)

Guaranteed Money: $56,332,500

Signed Through: 2018-19 with a player option for 2019-20

Points Per Game: 10.7

Rebounds Per Game: 2.8

Assists Per Game: 1.2

Player Efficiency Rating: 11.6

The Portland Trail Blazers were in a tough spot last off-season. After a year where the team definitely over-achieved, GM Neil Olshey was put in a difficult spot. Do you bring everyone back and see if the team can keep it rolling or do you bring in some new blood to team up with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum to see if the team can get even better? Olshey decided to bring everyone back to see if the train could keep rolling….and even though it didn’t completely de-rail this season, it came pretty damn close. When the Brooklyn Nets offered Allen Crabbe a fat contract last off-season, Blazers fans were split as to what to do about Crabbe. Some were fine letting him walk thinking that he had peaked as a player. Other fans were concerned that if you let Crabbe go to Brooklyn, he would improve even more and the Trail Blazers organization would have once again let a guy go who would eventually blossom into an All-Star. Portland fans are always concerned that if they let a young guy go, he’s going to go elsewhere and become a multiple time All-Star like Jermaine O’Neal did back in the day. Crabbe definitely looked like that kind of guy, so the Blazers went ahead and matched the offer and brought him back. Well, after a year of having Crabbe on his new deal I can officially say….that was a stupid move. Crabbe saw a significant increase in pay, but we essentially saw no improvement from him this last season. That’s not a good sign for the Blazers going forward as they are tapped out on the salary cap and really need Crabbe to blossom into a fringe All-Star type player. Don’t be surprised if the team tries to move him this off-season as they have to do something to get their salary cap number down.

7. Ryan Anderson (Houston Rockets)

Guaranteed Money: $80,000,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 13.6

Rebounds Per Game: 4.6

Assists Per Game: 0.9

Player Efficiency Rating: 13.6

Ryan Anderson is a fine player. Personally though, I don’t want to be paying $80,000,000 in guaranteed money for three more years of Ryan Anderson on my NBA team. That’s what the Houston Rockets are doing. Anderson is another player who saw a bump in pay last off-season and saw his numbers dip this season. His points per game went down almost four points a game after joining the Rockets (side effect of playing with James Harden, no doubt) and outside of his three-point %, he saw his numbers fall in every category. The Rockets were one of the surprise teams of the NBA this season, but I bet if they could go back in time, they would let Anderson go elsewhere. Who wants to pay that much money for a guy who is awful on the defensive side of the floor and saw his offensive numbers slide this year? Not this guy.

6. Timofey Mozgov (Los Angeles Lakers)

Guaranteed Money: $64,000,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 7.4

Rebounds Per Game: 4.9

Assists Per Game: 0.8

Player Efficiency Rating: 12.3

Remember last off-season when everyone on the Internet collectively laughed at the Los Angeles Lakers for offering Timofey Mozgov a guaranteed $64,000,000 over a four-year period? Remember when Laker fans said that they would be the ones having the last laugh because Mozgov would likely turn into the next Shaquille O’Neal and have a statue of himself built outside of Staples Center as well? OK, well Lakers fans may not have actually said that we all did make fun of them for the Mozgov signing and yes….it still looks as stupid as ever. The good news is, it’s the Lakers and anytime they suffer it’s a damn good thing. SUCK IT LAKERS FANS!

5. Chris Bosh (Miami Heat)

Guaranteed Money: $75,868,170

Signed Through: 2018-19

Points Per Game: 0.0

Rebounds Per Game: 0.0

Assists Per Game: 0.0

Player Efficiency Rating: 0.0

Chris Bosh is one of the best players in the NBA….when he’s actually playing. Unfortunately for him though, health problems have kept him out of the game all last season and there are rumors that he may never play basketball again. Unfortunately for the Miami Heat, as long as Bosh remains an active NBA player who thinks he can make a comeback, his salary is on their books and it’s a big one folks. Bosh is currently the 11th highest paid player in the league and he hasn’t played a game in over a year. As long as Bosh’s contract remains on the Heat’s books and he remains inactive, it’s going to be difficult for this team to make any kind of moves in free agency. This is why NBA contracts are stupid everyone.

4. Evan Turner (Portland Trail Blazers)

Guaranteed Money: $70,000,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 9.0

Rebounds Per Game: 3.8

Assists Per Game: 3.2

Player Efficiency Rating: 11.4

The Portland Trail Blazers headed into last off-season with enough cap room to try to sign a huge piece of the puzzle to add to their already dynamic team. It was no secret across the NBA that the Blazers had some money and they wanted to spend it and were looking at all options. The first guy they tried for, they ended up striking out on as Chandler Parsons accepted a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies instead (more on that later). The Blazers were left scrambling for plan B and that plan was apparently Evan Turner. The moment that Turner was signed, the skeptics kept came out. A lot of NBA experts said that Turner was a bad fit on the Blazers team and that Portland paid way too much money for his services. Well, there’s a reason those guys are considered “NBA experts” BECAUSE THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Turner was a lost dog for most of the season on the Blazers roster and is the main guy in my book that the team needs to try and move in the off-season. Turner can still be a good player on another NBA team (a team that allows him to have the ball in his hands), but it will likely never happen with the Blazers. Some guys just can’t play together and Turner is not fit for the Portland roster.

3. Joakim Noah (New York Knicks)

Guaranteed Money: $72,590,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 5.0

Rebounds Per Game: 8.7

Assists Per Game: 2.2

Player Efficiency Rating: 15.2

Phil Jackson is an amazing NBA coach.

Phil Jackson is also an awful NBA executive.

Everyone knows about the drama between Jackson and Carmelo Anthony recently. I don’t need to speak about that. Oh no. Instead I’ll bring up Jackson’s horrible moves that he’s made in free agency instead, namely the Joakim Noah one that everyone immediately criticized last off-season. What were the Knicks thinking when they offered Noah a four-year contract worth over $72 million? Everyone was confused when the signing happened and for good reason. HE SUCKS! Noah hasn’t been a real effective NBA player in almost four years. Sure, he used to be good and was definitely one of the reasons those Bulls teams were so good a few years back, but his play has fallen off a cliff the last few years. The New York Knicks are one of the biggest disasters in the NBA and there’s no telling if this thing is ever going to be fixed. It won’t be in the near future though. Not when you have to pay Noah around $18 million a season for the next 3 years. Barf.

2. Luol Deng (Los Angeles Lakers)

Guaranteed Money: $72,000,000

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 7.6

Rebounds Per Game: 5.2

Assists Per Game: 1.3

Player Efficiency Rating: 10.1

Remember the reaction everyone had when the Los Angeles Lakers offered Luon Deng a 4-year deal worth $72 million last season?

Deng. A player who has seen his numbers continuously take a dip each season the previous two years, gets offered a ridiculous amount of money from a basketball organization that obviously has no idea what they are doing anymore. You know how Deng thanked the Lakers for believing in him and giving him that much money? BY EASILY HAVING HIS WORST SEASON EVER! Deng is done as far as being a good NBA player is concerned. The only thing Lakers fans can hope for now is that the dude just walks away and doesn’t strap them for cash the next three seasons. Us Lakers haters need to be rooting for Deng to stick around though.

1. Chandler Parsons (Memphis Grizzlies)

Guaranteed Money: $94,438,523

Signed Through: 2019-20

Points Per Game: 6.2

Rebounds Per Game: 2.5

Assists Per Game: 1.6

Player Efficiency Rating: 7.6

Fellow Blazers fans, let’s all breathe a sigh of relief. Remember last off-season when the Blazers signed Chandler Parsons to a contract and we all got excited? Then remember when Parsons decided to sign with the Grizzlies instead and ended up burning the Blazers? Karma has struck buddy! Chandler Parsons has fallen apart this season. The Grizzlies went ahead and made him the 18th highest paid player in the NBA and he thanked him by sucking absolute monster dick this season. First of all, the Grizzlies knew that Parsons had knee problems and they still offered him a big contract. It shouldn’t come as no surprise to anyone that Parsons ended up playing in only 34 games this year and is dealing with knee problems as we speak. When Parsons actually did up playing for the Grizzlies this season….he was absolutely awful. His numbers fell pretty much in half and he earned a PLAYER EFFICIENCY RATING OF 7.6!!!!! NBA experts everywhere were scratching their heads last off-season as to why Chandler Parsons was getting offered so much money from multiple NBA teams and now we know. As a Blazers fan, I’m glad we avoided this crisis. The Grizzlies are going to be stuck with Parsons and his awful disastrous contract for the next three years and I’ll take Evan Turner over that.